Of Sorcerers and Wizards
by tazspaz
Summary: After Harry's fifth year, he was attacked and disappeared. He returns after discovering his true heritage, but will he be strong enough to beat Voldemort? Super Harry and Super Voldemort. HG
1. Birthday Owls

A/N - If I actually owned this story do you actually think I would have it posted on a free website? No way, anyways, I do not own the characters or anything like that, JKR does. (Revised version)

Chapter One

**Birthday Owls**

In the quiet neighbourhood street of Privet Drive, a scrawny boy with messy black hair and emerald green eyes could be found washing a four door sedan in front of a meticulously kept house. Now this might seem normal to the casual observer, but this was no ordinary boy. A long lightning shaped scar marred the boy's forehead and a thin polished stick hung from his back pocket. Harry Potter was a wizard, and an unusual one at that.

When Harry was only one year of age he defeated the darkest wizard of the age. After his parents had been murdered trying to protect him, Lord Voldemort had turned his wand on him, the boy prophesised to be capable of defeating the Dark Lord. But a great and ancient magic was invoked from his parents' sacrifice, and the dark lord was defeated when the killing curse meant for the boy was reflected back upon him. Lily and James Potter died at the hands of the dark lord, yet Harry was left unscathed except for the scar on his forehead.

But this success was not meant to be, for some thirteen years later at the end of Harry's forth year at Hogwarts, the dark lord rose again. After dealing with a year of slander and lies from the magical government and wizarding press, who refused to believe the dark lord had returned, Harry was proven correct when Lord Voldemort showed himself at the Ministry of Magic. Although Voldemort had not successfully acquired the prophecy that he had been seeking, he had lured Harry Potter to the Department of Mysteries where it was hidden, and had killed the boy's godfather in the resulting fight.

The prophecy rested heavily upon his mind as he scrubbed at the car, Dumbeldore had finally revealed it to him after the events in the Department of Mysteries. Harry had to kill or be killed by Voldemort; there was no way around it. The prophecy had made Harry frightened and confused. He wanted more then anything to be able to talk to Sirius, he could help him through his problems. 'But I can't' he thought angrily, as a familiar pressure grew behind his eyes. It was Harry's fault that Sirius had died. If he had just listened to Hermione or Dumbledore he wouldn't have been lured into the Department of Mysteries. He sighed sadly, wiping his eyes across his sleave before returning his attention to the car.

As Harry rinsed the last of the soap residue off the shiny vehicle, a horse faced woman stuck her head out the front window of the house and snarled.

"Potter! Get in here and make some dinner, my poor Duddykins is starving." Rolling his eyes at the idea of his whale of a cousin ever starving, Harry sighed and cleaned up quickly before heading in to feed his hungry 'family'. After checking that the Dursleys had completely finished their meal and were otherwise preoccupied watching T.V. or spying on the neighbours, Harry quickly made himself a sandwich from the leftovers and quietly climbed the stairs to his room.

'I wonder if Hedwig's back?' He wondered absently, as he climbed over his cot to the window. He found two owls waiting patiently for him to open the window, while a small ball of feathers zoomed in circles above their heads. After allowing the calmer owls to enter, Harry quickly snatched the feathered menace out of the sky and untied a piece of rolled up parchment from its leg.

"Alright Pig, calm down or my uncle will hear. You know what happened last time; I'd hate to have to send you back to Ron missing more feathers." He said anxiously. At these words the hyperactive owl calmed down considerably, allowing Harry to place him in the large cage on the desk next to him. Now setting his attention on the large regal owl which was closest to him, he quickly untied the letter that was attached to its ankle, before handing it an owl treat and sending it on its way. The snowy white owl that remained calmly lifted her leg up, allowing access to her master's parcel whilst glaring daggers at the jittery owl now drinking the water in her cage.

"Alright girl, here you go." He said, quickly giving her some owl treats before she could grow too frustrated with Pig. Hooting gratefully, she swooped into her cage and pushed the miniscule intruder away from her water.

Snickering quietly at her antics, Harry unrolled the first piece of parchment to find his friend Ron's untidy scrawl:

_Harry,_

_Happy birthday mate! I hope the muggles are treating you well. I would send you some food, but I don't think Pig would survive the flight carrying anything more than a letter. Anyways, Hermione is here with us at you-know-where, and is currently spying over my shou… _(Here the writing turned to a scribble, before it became a much tidier script.)

_Ignore that idiot, Harry; he doesn't know what he is talking about. And happy birthday, we've decided to give you your presents when we see you in a couple of weeks, as Pig is too small and Errol is getting way to old to use anymore._

_I hope that you are doing better; you know that Sirius would not want you to mourn his passing; he would want you to celebrate his life (Most likely by doing something that would make the Marauders proud). I want you to know that we all miss him, but he went out knowing that you were safe. He wouldn't want your memory of him to be clouded by the guilt and grief from something you weren't responsible for. _(There were more scribbles as the writing changed once again)

_Alright, enough of the sappy stuff, but she's right, mate. Don't beat yourself up over this; you are not responsible for it, Voldemort is._

Harry smiled absently when he noticed that his best friend had written _Voldemort_, instead of _You-Know-Who_ or _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_.

_If you are going to blame anybody, blame him. I know this is easier said than done, but know that we all chose to come with you because we care about you (Bloody hell, she has me getting sappy too!). Just know that we are here for you, you are not alone._

_On a happier note, Ginny was made prefect and I got five OWLs, while Hermione got eight. (Surprise, surprise). Hopefully we will see you soon, give the muggles hell! (Ouch, Hermione just punched me for that one!)._

_Your mate,_

_Ron_

_Ouch, fine… and Hermione_

Smiling sadly, he placed the letter on the desk before picking up the remaining roll of parchment. Unrolling it, he froze. This was the results of his O.W.Ls. With bated breath, Harry slowly opened the letter:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_Below you will find the results of your O.W.L. tests;_

_Transfiguration – Outstanding_

_Care of Magical Creatures – Exceeds Expectations._

_History of Magic – Troll._

_Potions – Outstanding._

_Defence Against the Dark Arts – Outstanding._

_Charms – Exceeds Expectations._

_Astronomy – Acceptable._

_Divination – Dreadful._

_It should be noted that you have received the highest grade ever recorded for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Congratulations on your achievements._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

He sighed in relief, he had gotten six OWLs. Feeling his heart beginning to beat normally again, he turned his attention to the rather long package, in which he found a note from the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore, definitely not someone he wanted to hear from. Feeling his annoyance creep in, he opened the note:

_Dear Harry,_

_I again want to apologize for the conversation that we had at the end of last term. I should have let you know during your first year instead of putting it off for so long. Please forgive an old man's mistake; you have every right to be angry with me. In the hopes of some kind of peace offering, I enclosed a certain object from a certain ex-professor, which I felt that you would like to have back._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Slowly, Harry reached inside the box and pulled out an all too familiar broom. Grinning widely, he stroked the polished wood of his Firebolt and began to repair the damage inflicted during its time in custody with Dolores Umbridge. After about an hour of intensive repair, he chanced a glance at his alarm clock to find that it was about fifteen minutes until midnight, fifteen minutes until he turned sixteen. Sighing, he carefully packed his broom away with his polishing kit. He was lying down on his tiny cot to relax when he heard a loud crash from downstairs.


	2. No Escape From Destiny

A/N – Nope, don't own it, unfortunately I probably never will :(

_**Chapter Two**_

**No Escape From Destiny**

Bolting to his feet, Harry snatched his wand from his dresser and scurried to the door. With his ear pressed to the cheap wood paneling, he could hear his uncle charge from his room, irate at the disturbance. Still not sure what to expect, he poked his head into the hallway in time to hear his uncle's enraged ranting end suddenly with an audible spell, leaving him numb in dread. This was no friendly order visit like last year, and if he wasn't mistaken, his uncle had just been hit with the killing curse. Swearing silently at his bad luck, he crept over to the landing and began to descend as silently as he could. There were no order members here, he was all alone, and he knew that he would most likely be expelled from Hogwarts for sure this time, but he had to do something.

He had almost reached the bottom of the stairs, when he heard his Aunt call from her bedroom, "Vernon, what is it, was that Freak down there again? And why is it so quiet?" Furious at his Aunt's stupidity, Harry spun around and raced back up only to be faced with a nervous Aunt Petunia and a blurry eyed Dudley.

"Run you idiots, there are death eaters down there, they will kill you if they see you!" From the look on Harry's face, realization dawned as Petunia instantly grabbed Dudley and attempted to pull him back to his room. Before she could get far, a jet of green light enveloped her and she crumpled to the floor lifeless, a second stream claimed Dudley barely a second later. Pure rage overshadowed the shock at seeing his entire family murdered. Slowly, he turned to see a pleased Lucius Malfoy with his wand trained on Harry's chest, "Someone would like a word with you, Potter. But first, I think a little fun is in order. Crucio! "Before Harry even had a chance to respond, he was hit with such intense pain that it took all of his control not to scream out loud. As the seconds ticked by, his rage began to grow and the effects of the curse began to dwindle.

In all of his years of service to his master, he had never seen anyone throw off a Crustatios curse, nor a face of such anger and power. Attempting to strengthen the spell was no use, fear began to rise in his gut as he saw the 'helpless' boy rise to his feet. A slight flick of the Harry's wrist and Malfoy Sr. was thrown down the stairs like a rag doll, the deatheaters climbing up behind were also knocked back. Wand forgotten, he descended the stairs in a towering rage. Calmly side stepping the unconscious forms of his attackers, he advanced menacingly upon the cowering Malfoy.

To Harry this all seemed like an out-of-body experience, he could see himself, but couldn't seem to gain any control over his actions. He saw himself lift Malfoy up by the neck and slam him into wall, while at the same time knowing distantly in the back of his mind that he shouldn't be able to do any of this. Just as he raised his other hand to cast a spell, he felt a white hot pain travel down his spine, knocking him to the ground in convolutions. Seeing his chance, Malfoy scrambled for the nearest exit as Harry's haunting scream followed him. He had just reached the open back door when a force picked him up off of his feet and blew him out the door at an incredible speed.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

In the office of Albus Dumbledore an alarm started going off from a small pewter box. At the sound, the elderly Headmaster grew visibly pale, his hands started shaking and he stated to look all of his one hundred and fifty odd years. "No… No, this can't be, this is impossible!" In the blink of an eye, Dumbledore sped over to his fireplace and vanished in a swirl of green flames.

Seconds later, he appeared amid complete chaos, he stepped from the flames to find order members scurrying around trying to find why the alarms were going off. Others attempted to calm each other as well as quiet the wailing portrait of Mrs. Black. A plump, red haired woman spotted Dumbledore and started over, followed quickly by the rest of the group. "Albus what is going on, what are those alarms for? We couldn't find a threat anywhere."

By now the others had noticed the look on Dumbledore's face and had started to share very uneasy glances. "I am afraid that I have some bad news, those alarms are for the blood wards surrounding Harry Potter's home. Tonks, Kingsley; gather a small group of aurors and head over, I will meet you there. I am afraid that this may be a very grave night indeed, those wards will only go off if there is no living blood relative left, including Harry."

At these words there was complete silence, then all hell broke out again as Tonks and Kingsley tripped over each other in their hurry to the fireplace. A pale Ron and Hermione slumped to the floor in shock while Ginny remained standing in the back, wearing a rather confused look on her pale face. At the time, Dumbledore thought that was rather unusual, especially since one of her best friends had just gone missing, if he wasn't dead already. Shoving this little bit of information into the back of his mind, he quickly headed for number four, Privet Drive, muttering the whole time, "Please no…Please no…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

At the site of what used to be number four, Privet Drive, was now a large crater. Surprisingly, there was little debris considering the sheer magnitude of the blast. Apparating from behind an overturned dumpster, Dumbledore appeared with a grave Professor McGonagall following right behind him. "Albus… There is no way he could have survived that, no one could." she whispered in horror while taking in her surroundings, or lack there of.

At that moment, aurors began to pop in and clear the crowd with selective memory charms. After a few minutes of work, a selective few were able to join Dumbledore at the edge of the crater. Giving him the time and space he needed to finish his spells, they glumly awaited the results of their young hero's fate. After a few minutes, Dumbledore slumped to the ground in a rare show of grief, "Voldemort will be celebrating tonight, we had best head to headquarters before the muggle 'po-men' arrive."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When the group arrived back at headquarters, everybody was either pacing the floor with Remus Lupin or making forced small talk to pass the time. As soon as everyone had cleared the fireplace, they were mobbed on all sides about the whereabouts of Harry. Dumbledore raised his hands for silence before he slowly spoke, "I have some very bad news my friends, it appears that Voldemort had discovered the location of Harry's relatives. From what I could gather, a group of deatheaters attacked and successfully murdered at least Petunia Dursley before destroying everything… I…I was not able to detect Harry's life force anywhere." He paused slightly before continuing in an even more strained voice. "The force of the blast would leave little chance of survival… Even for Voldemort."

By this time, everyone was either crying openly or had tears streaming down their faces. Ron was holding both a hysterical Hermione and a silent Ginny, while tears streamed down his cheeks unchecked.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Is he going to be ok? I can't believe that he was being attacked the same time, what rotten luck. "

"He should be fine, Xander, he just needs to rest. The potions should start kicking in soon."

Harry felt as if his bones were rattling inside, pain was everywhere; even his hair felt like it was throbbing. Slowly, he felt the pain recede and his eyes began to focus on his surroundings. He was lying on an unfamiliar bed and in an exquisitely decorated room, definitely not where he was before. Sitting up quickly, he instantly regretted it as his head throbbed in protest. "Wh…where am I?"

Strong hands gently grabbed him and pushed him back down on the bed, as a kind looking matriarch figure buzzed around the room collecting bottles and gauze to place on the table next to him. Looking up to the owner of the hands, he found himself looking at a scruffy, middle aged man with black curly hair, but with a kind smile and a small twinkle in his olive green eyes.

"Oh, leave the boy alone, he has already been through enough tonight without having to see your ugly face. Here dear, drink this; this should help your headache. A bump like that is sure to cause some pain." The kind looking woman lifted his head up as he gulped down the neon blue concoction, surprisingly it tasted like a cross between a pear and a green pepper.

At Harry's confused and slightly annoyed look, the woman decided to take pity on him. "Mr. Potter, yes, I know who you are, and I understand that you are undeniably confused right now. If you could hold your questions for just a little bit longer, our leader here, will be able to answer them. Just know that we mean you no harm, we are here to help you."

Harry nodded sullenly, as the two finished their work and left so he could get some rest. In what seemed like mere moments, he awoke to find a note and a set of green robes at the foot of his bed. Dressing quickly, Harry picked up the note;

Mr. Potter,

You will find a set of robes along with this note. Please feel free to join us in the room outside when you are ready; it is time to know your true destiny.

Xander

'Great, another thing to add to my list of destinies… Why me?" Harry changed and reluctantly headed toward the single door in the room, nervously he opened it to find a large table brimming with food and people. At his entrance the room grew silent, then Xander - as Harry recalled - rose and beckoned him to join them. Realizing how hungry he really was, but determined to find out what was going on first. Harry took the offered seat, but stared expectantly at Xander until he decided to speak, never taking his eyes away from the table.

"Harry, what you are about to hear is something that no other wizard has heard in over a thousand years. I ask that you save your questions until our story has been told if you would." At Harry's nod he continued. "Long ago, before the time of the founders of your school, there were two different types of magical wielding humans. There was the type that relied on using a wand to draw the power from their magic core, also known as a wizard. The second type did not need to use a wand, and was by far more powerful than the average wizard. At one time they were able to live together in peace, but a select few wizards began to grow jealous of the sorcerer's powers. They were led into an ambush, and many of their kind died that day. The few survivors left fled to this realm, but not before their leader, his general, and their families were captured. The leader and his family had a severe block placed on their powers, so powerful in fact, that they became like muggles. Their memories were erased and they were sent out into the muggle world to survive. The general and his family had a less severe block placed on them, and their powers were limited to those of a wizard, a memory charm was placed on them as well."

"Every record of the sorcerers was destroyed, and people began to think of sorcerers as myths or legends over the centuries. But the General's descendants thrived and built a name for themselves as a powerful pureblood wizard family. When your Lord Voldemort came into power, the line was nearly wiped out since they would not join him, only one survived as he was at school at the time."

"The leader's family on the other hand, never knew of their magical background, so it came as a real surprise to learn that a daughter had magical powers. Somehow the block had weakened over time, allowing a portion of their true heritage to seep through. Unfortunately, Lord Voldemort wiped out the General's line when they would not serve him. He went after the last son and daughter soon after."

At this point Xander looked Harry straight in the eye and asked. "Harry, do you know the names of those families?" Harry shook his head, but he felt that maybe he should. "The name of the General was Godric Gryffindor, his descendants later married into the Potter family. The name of the Leader was Brian Evans. Harry, you are the direct descendant of our leader and his general, you are a full blooded sorcerer in all aspects."

Harry was speechless, at first he thought that they were putting him on, but the looks on everyone's faces was enough to dissuade that idea rather quickly. When words were finally able to come, the only thing he could utter was, "Why?"

Xander chuckled softly at the dumbfounded look on the young man in front of him. "I'm sure that you are getting tired of hearing about your destiny, but that is exactly what this is. We believe that when the two lines crossed, the block on their magic was lifted partially. What happened on your birthday was the magical growth spurt that everyone gets around their sixteenth birthday; it seems that yours was very exact. But, what we also believe is that your growth spurt completely destroyed that block. What you should also know right now is that those two particular lines where already very strong sorcerers. Harry, as it is, you are by far the strongest sorcerer in this room."


	3. Discoveries and Sorrow

_**Chapter Three**_

**Discoveries and Sorrow**

"Sorcerers, prophesies, Voldemort, why? Why does everything happen to me? Why can't I be just a normal sixteen year old?" Harry moaned as he rubbed his temples roughly. Unbeknownst to him, the other occupants in the room began to disperse for what they knew would be a very long night for Harry and Xander.

"How do you know so much about me? If you have known so much, why didn't you come save me from the Dursley's? Why are you just now telling me this? Why couldn't you have come to me sooner when it really would have counted?" Harry whispered, growing angrier by the second, so much could have been avoided if he had known.

The older man sighed as he watched the rage build up in this young man; he had been through so much in such a short period of time. "There was no way for us to contact you until you came into your final, magical growth spurt. We are not strong enough to cross the realms on our own; we had to 'borrow' some of your power during the growth spurt just to bring you over. Realm crossing takes a certain level of power that even I do not possess, but you do. The thousands of years spent here in this world have diminished our power, bringing you here used up most of our energy. As for how we know about you, well, our techniques are a bit different than what you are used to. Since we are not of this realm originally, we still have a strong connection to our home world. For you see, with a connection like that, we can use certain prisms to channel through the realms, thus allowing us to observe. These prisms can follow a certain chain of events or it could follow a life…like yours.

"I see, well, that does make some sense…I guess." Harry looked up finally, obviously still confused, but in no mood to hear it again. He would sort through his thoughts at a later time, sometime when he didn't feel like he had a Blast-ended Skrewt ricocheting through his brain.

"Harry, would your really have wanted to live a normal life? Being ignorant of the danger all around you, not being able to save the lives that you have, not having the adventures that you did, not meeting your friends? Would you really trade that for a boring, normal life?" Xander watched carefully as Harry clasped his hands in his lap to consider those aspects.

"You're right, no matter how much I want a normal life, I know that I wouldn't trade it for anything. There have been more bad than good experiences, but it has made me who I am today. Although, I would like to have gotten to know my parents and my godfather better before they died. I cannot truly imagine my life any different, no matter how much I want to change the past. It feels right the way it happened, almost as though it was meant to be this way all along. I will always wish that so many lives didn't have to be sacrificed, but this is war, it is inevitable." Harry sighed, "Your right, I need to stop thinking like this and accept it, I'll never survive if I don't. It was meant to be."

Xander smiled at the wisdom shown by this young man in front of him. "Harry, you know how you should usually trust your instincts. What did your instincts tell you when your godfather fell through that veil?"

Harry was silent for a few minutes before he replied. "I felt as though he wasn't dead, it still doesn't feel like he really is. I still expect to see him every time I am at headquarters… Are you saying that my instincts were right, that he isn't really dead?" At Xander's nod, Harry felt the first true smile appear on his face in a long time. "He's alive? When would we be able to get him back?"

Xander laughed at Harry's eagerness. "Yes, he is alive and safe. The veil that he fell through was a sorcerer's invention, we had used it as a prison over a thousand years ago. Unfortunately, we will not be able to retrieve him at this point. We will need to train you first, but don't worry, time travels differently here than in your world or the prison realm. The four years of training you will have here, will only be a year in your world, time here is multiplied by four. Before you lose your temper, hear me out. The reason that we cannot rescue your godfather now is simply because you do not have the power to cross a realm like that one right now. And like I said earlier, you are the only one who can, we will not be able to be there if something goes wrong. After your training you will be powerful enough to cross over as if it was nothing, but until that time your will need to build your powers wisely."

"Ok, what do I have to do?" With a determined look on his face, Harry agreed. The next hour was spent going over the curriculum for the next four years, and a time was set aside the next day to uncover what special abilities that he had within.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

In a large stone room, a pale, deformed figure sat upon a throne deep in thought. "You are sure of this, how is this possible? The boy cannot have had that type of power, it is not feasible." Finally, the snake-like creature raised his head and hissed. "Ready the ritual, my plans have now been moved forward exponentially. Malfoy, you may go. Oh, before I forget. CRUCIO!" He whipped his wand out and pointed it at the badly burnt deatheater. "This is what you get for failure to me, do not attempt it again."

Watching the quivering mass in front of him, he smiled evilly at the pleasure of causing pain. Soon he would be all powerful once more. The brat was dead, the only one that possibly could have defeated him was gone. Ah, one less thorn in his side, he was perturbed though. If that boy could show that type of power, it meant that he would have to be more powerful than before. No point in taking a chance that he could be overpowered. The muggle-loving fool would have to be taken care of soon as well, he was the only real threat left to him. Finally he realized that he still had Malfoy under the curse, oops. Watching Malfoy being dragged out of his sight was rather intoxicating though.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The stunned looks being cast in his direction did not bode well with Harry. 'Great, now what, and what did they find this time?' He visually slumped within the overstuffed chair while awaiting the verdict. Already he had been tested positive for more gifts than was though possible. He had been found to be a teleporter and a multi-animagus on top of being a realm walker and a powerful sorcerer with the full use of wandless magic. What more could they find?

Xander and his group of researchers headed over from the table they had been leaning over for the past four hours. "Harry, I must admit, you have me at a loss of words." Sarah, the kindly woman that had helped Harry his first day, muttered something about being shocked over his loss of words, before plastering a sickening smile on her face when he glared back at her. The two of them reminded Harry so much of Ron and Hermione that it was impossible not to laugh at their antics. "As I was going to say before I was rudely interrupted here, we have found another one of your gifts. It appears that you have control over the elements of lightning, fire, water, and air. We are assuming that the strongest element would be your control over lightning, the scar on your forehead is the symbol of that ironically. What we will be doing over the next couple of days will be to find out what your animagus forms are. In the meantime, we have come up with the best matches for your instructors. I will be teaching you the usage of weapons and hand to hand combat. This _one_ here." He jabbed his finger at Sarah, who scowled at him. "Will be teaching you healing and herbology." Pointing at an elderly man to his right. "Guran will be teaching you the art of mind magic and control. Vince here, will be teaching you to control your animagus forms and their fighting styles, as well as magical creature lessons." He nodded at a tall, bald man behind him. "Wolfus here, will be teaching you the history of our kind as well as etiquette in this world and yours." He pointed at a rather short, thin man practically being stepped on by a huge barrel of a man behind him. "Feynman here, will be teaching you advanced transfiguration and charms." He indicated the large barrel-man. "And Ziana here, will be teaching you potions." He waved at an older woman who came bustling into the room covered in a greenish goo.

"So sorry I was late, mild explosion in the lab, nothing to worry about. Just take this as a lesson not to turn your back on a three-kneed scalopus when you are trying to collect it's scales. Rather messy business that." At the sight of the big grins on everyone's face, she started to grow confused. "What?"

Everyone had a good laugh before they quickly calmed Ziana down from the full blown rant she was obviously preparing for. As everyone began clearing out of the small room, Xander pulled Harry back. "In the excitement of everything, I believe that I forgot to mention something. While you will be staying here, there will only be us instructors and a few servants. This location is very secluded from the rest of our world, you will not be meeting anyone your age while you are here. We are the elite of our kind, so we do not accept students unless they are exceptionally gifted, which has not happened in over twenty years." At the dejected look in his student's eyes, Xander mischievously added. "Although, I could use some help with a few 'projects' that I have planned for a few people, are you any good with pranks?"

The next couple of days passed quickly with the knowledge that Harry would be leaning the identities of his forms soon. Finally on the third day, the ritual was complete for the animagous forms. A pedestal of stone was set up in the middle of a large stone pit with torches lit every two feet. Clad in a dark blue robe, Harry anxiously paced in a small hut while everything was finished being set up. A few minutes later, Sarah came in to calm him down before leading him out. While his new friends and teachers looked on from the background, Harry quietly walked into the middle of the pit and began to climb the steps to the pedestal. Once on top, he nervously whispered a small incantation and the stone below him began to glow a greenish color before beginning to vibrate slightly.

Suddenly, Harry was wrapped in a golden glow as his form began to change, first wings began to sprout out of his back and grow, he also began to grow in size and become more reptilian. After a few seconds, a fully formed, thirty foot, golden dragon was resting on the stone. Then slowly he shrunk to large black lion with a distinct lightning bolt between it's ears. It roared in surprise and a jet of lightning shot from it's jaws and nearly barbequed Xander and Sarah, who had shoved each other out of the way just in time.

The next form was that of a large, blood red snake with a silver underbelly. It had black, mask-like markings on it's head, but the most noticeable feature was the inch and a half fangs protruding from it's gaping mouth. Slowly, the snake formed back into a human shape and everybody began to talk excitedly and head into the pit when the golden glow began to spread yet again, This time when the wings protruded out of Harry's back, they were black leathery wings with sharp metallic claws on the ends. A billowy tunic covered a muscular form as the fingers lengthened and grew into long, sharp talons. Black hair grew down to the middle of its back as pointed ears began to form, next were two long, vampiric fangs. At the end of this transformation, a glowing, green eyed demon was standing in the middle of the pit with a pale and gaping audience staring back. Slowly the golden glow began to spread yet again and the normal body of Harry Potter was standing with a shell-shocked expression on his pale face.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The last couple of months had been hard for everybody. The loss of Harry Potter had hit the wizarding world like a well rounded out punch. People hurried to their destinations, never wanting to be caught out in the open in fear of the ever increasing attacks by the Death Eaters. Hogwarts had started its new term with more enrolled students than ever recorded, as everybody wanted their child in a safe place. A few additions had been added to the large castle making it seem almost intimidating at times. More teachers had also been added onto the staff, there were now two Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers. Mad-Eye Moody and Remus Lupin had both accepted the posts again, although in Mad-Eye's case it was the first real time he would be teaching. Tonks had also agreed to teach transfiguration with Professor McGonagall.

Out of all of the changes taking place, the changes over Ron and Hermione were the most pronounced. Although their grades had not slipped, due to Hermione, they had grown distant to everyone, only Ginny had been able to break through their shell. Ginny, on the other hand, was as quiet as she was when she found out about Harry over the summer. She had once told the last two of the Golden Trio that she didn't think that he was dead, only to face an irate Mrs. Weasley about not raising their hopes for something that would not happen. No one was taking the news well except Voldemort.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Voldemort was ecstatic, he had just finished a new set of rituals for necromancy. Stepping lightly over the now ruined bodies of his sacrificial victims, he proceeded to his chambers to rest. The last couple of months after the Potter brat's demise had been some of the most productive he had had in nearly fifty years. He now was able to summon small demons to do his bidding at will, of course that didn't come without its payment in blood. He grimaced slightly at the memory of the demon he had summoned a month ago, even after all he had done the sight of that much gore was almost too much even for him.

Hissing in pain from the bloody cuts of his ritual daggers, he changed out of his stained ceremonial robes into his normal flowing black attire. After a couple of days of restful muggle torture, he would begin the next phase of rituals, this time he would need a much larger target for his necromancy. Maybe a dragon this time, although he would have a harder time controlling a non-human creature, he did not want to seem weak in front of his servants. A sign of weakness could possibly destroy all of his hard work, as well as lose some of his newest power-hungry recruits.

In a few months he would be powerful enough to attack Hogwarts, that old fool would not stand a chance against him this time. After that would be the Ministry of Magic, he was really looking forward to that one, aside from Hogwarts. The current minister may have been a useful pawn since his return, but that usefulness had diminished rapidly after the incident at the ministry. He could just imagine what sort of new torture he could do to Fudge, maybe he could kill him after some nice torture then raise him to walk the streets as a soulless minion. That would put some fear in those half-breeds and muggle-lovers. Cackling sadistically, he sat at his massive desk and began to make new plans, all thoughts of sleep quickly cast from his mind.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

After his animagus testing, Harry had been given his new work schedule. To say that he would be busy would be an understatement. The first month would be solely dedicated to organizing his mind, improving his reading comprehension, and speed reading. Next, he would be reviewing all of the courses he had taken over the last five years in great detail. After he had reviewed everything within a couple of months, he would be taught the fundamentals of wandless magic, animagus transformations, elements, teleporting, and crossing the different realms.

After the first three months were up, Harry had needed a few days off to recuperate or have a nervous breakdown. Cramming five years worth of classes had exhausted him, but he had increased the review to include most of the more important spells and theory from the sixth and seventh years as well, leaving him feeling nearly catatonic.

Once he had started the basics of his new classes, Harry had had problems with organizing his mind from all of the now fresh knowledge that seemed to dispute with everything he had learned while in the wizarding world. He had always had problems with the spell work and theory, seeming to only just pass through his classes, except for Defense. It was discovered that the wizarding world taught their children in a completely different way than the way it had been over a thousand years ago. This particular style worked well with wizarding magic, but it hindered the way a sorcerer would learn. If the old teaching method had been kept, Harry's teachers had no doubt that Harry would have been the brightest student at Hogwarts. How Harry's ancestors had adapted was a mystery to everyone, the best guess was they had modified what they learned to fit their personal magic somehow.

After his break, Harry went straight into learning Occlumency and Legilimens, along with training with his new professors in their selected fields. Six months later, Harry had grown proficient in Legilimens, but still had a ways to go until he would be able to guard his mind against Guran.

Since he was able to enter Guran's mind with minimal effort at this point, the teacher's decided to hold a conference for a new study format. Starting immediately, Harry would be allowed to access the teacher's minds, with respect towards their private thoughts, to help his studies. The only downside for Harry would be that Guran would consistently try to break into his mind periodically throughout the day. This would improve Harry's defenses from Voldemort when he returned greatly; but it would be an inconvenience for both Guran and Harry, as whatever was on the surface of his mind would be exposed.

When Harry was informed of the new changes, he was ecstatic. He would be able to gain more knowledge and personal experience than he ever would normally within the four years he would be training here. Suddenly, Harry's grin took on a devious edge as he slowly turned his head to where Xander stood.

Xander's face paled suddenly, he had just allowed his fellow pranker access to his mind. He knew Harry would find someway to bend the rules to see more than surface thoughts, as he himself would do if he was able to. 'Oh Merlin, what did I get myself into?'

"Yes indeed, _what did you_ get yourself into?" Harry asked innocently, although no one was fooled for a second. They knew Harry well enough that he would not think of imposing on their private thoughts, but he may pry a little at Xander just for fun.

Later that day, Xander came up to an amused Guran asking for help in learning Occlumency. Apparently, Xander had a sparring class in a few hours with Harry.

The next couple of months passed quickly with only a few mild pranks on Xander's behalf. Harry just could not peek into Xander's mind without feeling incredibly guilty, especially after catching Xander thoughts after a row with Sarah.

Other than the pranks, Harry was improving at a remarkable rate. He was able to see the mistakes that his teachers had made and learn from them, thus gaining a second hand experience for magic and combat of nearly two hundred and fifty years combined. The training he had undertaken in his first month here had helped to establish a photographic memory within a very well organized mind.

After being in this realm for nearly a year and a half, Harry was able to beat Xander within only a minute on a bad day. The time had come when he was beyond what Xander could teach him, so a new training regiment was put into effect. Harry would continue to workout in the mornings, but instead of the normal sparring, he would begin to study the different scenarios for battles throughout history, muggle and magic wielding. Xander would still spar with him, but now it would be a melee battle between him and all willing teachers. Only Sarah stayed out of the sparring practices, Ziana had joined in with her pockets stuffed to the brim with different potion grenades.

The first battle had been a complete success with no one able to stand due to exhaustion. After that first battle, Harry was able to last longer and longer within the fights until a month and a half later when he was able to outlast everyone.


	4. Training

_**Chapter Four**_

**Training**

It had been two years since his arrival in the sorcerer's realm, and Harry was now ready to return to his world. Although originally scheduled for four years, Harry had surpassed everyone's greatest expectations after only two years. No one had expected someone to push themselves as hard as Harry did, especially at his age. Tomorrow would be his last day before he returned, although he was happy to see his old friends and teachers, he had created some close friendships here as well. Xander may have been a grouchy old man at times, but he would have rivaled even Sirius and James in the pranking department. His other teachers cringed in fear whenever Xander and Harry grinned mischievously, that fear usually escalated when the two snuck out of the room to plot their next attack.

Harry had changed a lot since his arrival in this realm, he was no longer a skinny little boy who wore oversized castoffs from his fat cousin. He was now nearly 6'3, had a muscular physique, and had broad shoulders from all of the weight training. An improved diet and exercise plan had made up for all of the mistreatment from the years of abuse that the Dursleys had put him through. Harry also no longer cared about anyone seeing his scar and now wore his hair in a short spiky cut, this way his normally unruly hair was too short to give him any trouble. On his tanned biceps he had a set of golden runes wrapping themselves down to his elbow, unfortunately, these tattoos had nearly gotten him killed by Sarah. When he had come in to get himself checked out after a particularly brutal weapons lesson, Sarah had unwittingly discovered the newly acquired body art, at which point had escalated to a full force man hunt for Xander. Even if Xander had ended up in the hospital wing with Harry for the next couple of days following, he had grown too attached with the art work to part with it.

On the morning of his last day, Harry quickly went through his morning exercises and showered before heading down to breakfast. Once he arrived in the dining hall, he started wolfing his food down before he noticed only Sarah and Ziana were eating with him. After washing his breakfast down with some juice, he was finally able to ask. "Where is everyone else today?"

"Well, good morning to you too." Sarah smiled at Harry's sheepish grin before continuing. "Since this is your last day with us for a while, everyone has decided to give you a break from all of the reviewing and have set up a rather evil obstacle course out there in the back field. Ziana and I will be giving you a change as well, but we won't be participating in their crazy course though. I'm going to show you how to set and heal a broken bone on the battle field, and Ziana here, will be teaching you the 'Felix Felicis'. Now, you had better head down before Xander has time to do something stupid again, like that time he created that lake of quicksand. I swear, if Feynman hadn't been around to counter it!" She trailed off while muttering darkly of things she would like to do to that 'man'.

Snickering at the look on Sarah's face, Harry grabbed a blueberry muffin and headed out. Once he reached the infamous obstacle course, he stopped in awe. They were either trying to kill him or they really thought that he was invincible. Large jagged boulders rose out of the once flat field making it resemble a stone fortress in structure. In the center of his teacher's death traps, stood a two hundred foot mountain that Harry knew hadn't been there before this morning. Tall, crooked trees were placed sporadically among the monstrous stones, while a raging river cut a partial path through the labyrinth. "Great, this is going to be a _lovely_ day" Harry grumbled as he started down to the group of smirking instructors.

"Alright there Harry, you look a little nervous." A grinning Vince inquired, as he elbowed Wolfus in the side. "He's right, you look a little pale, are you going to make it through our _little _lesson?" Wolfus asked, not looking the least bit concerned.

'Sheesh, set a small rain cloud over their heads for a day and they hold a grudge for six months. Maybe I shouldn't have shocked them too, oh well.' Harry thought as he listened to the rules for the course. Almost anything was allowed, but he wasn't allowed to fly to the top of the mountain, teleport, or retaliate at the teachers in the course, however he could deal with that- for now.

"Alright, you have three hours to reach the peak and rescue a 'victim' from a vicious 'dragon', are you ready?" Harry snorted at Xander's description, he really was enjoying himself way to much. Harry acknowledged that he was ready, and at the command he took off running towards what appeared was the entrance.

Five minutes after finally locating the real entrance instead of the illusional one, he climbed onto the top of a tall boulder and got his second glimpse of what proved to be a very tiring day. It appeared that every teacher had put something into the cause, except of course Sarah and Ziana, although, he had a feeling that Sarah would be involved at some point after this was over.

Roaming among the boulders and trees were all sorts of magical creatures, mostly large, but there were a few small ones thrown in for good measure. Ahead of him on the path lay a large cat-like creature with the head of a woman and white fur and small black stripes covering the rest of the body. What do you seek, young master? Harry heard the voice in his head but knew that it was coming from the sphinx ahead. "I am seeking the path to the top of the mountain, can you guide me there?"

The sphinx cocked her head and seemed to bore a hole through him with her gaze. To reach the top, you must answer me this riddle;

What can be more powerful than an army,

Dwells in your heart come spring,

Able to lift the heaviest soul,

And fulfill a person's hopes and dreams? 

(A/N – I suck at Riddles, give me a break.)

"More powerful than an army…Um…Lives in the heart in the spring…Ok… Lifts the heaviest soul… Fulfills hopes and dreams…Um, what happens if I get it wrong?" Harry asked after a couple of minutes of concentration.

If you answer incorrectly, you will fight him. She nodded her head to a towering troll flexing his muscles in anticipation. "Uh, right, well give me a couple of more minutes to get this right." After a couple of more minutes, he looked up with a grin. "More powerful than an army, lives in the heart in the spring, can lift the heaviest soul, and can fulfill a person's hopes and dreams; its love isn't it?"

The sphinx smiled and moved off of the path, as the troll lumbered off with a disappointed look on its ugly face. Harry continued on a few more minutes before he ran into the next obstacle. A large whomping willow guarded a small tunnel to a clearing about twenty feet away. 'I hate these trees' he muttered as he narrowly avoided a thick branch that hit the ground with a rumble. 'Great, what did Hermione do last time? Oh, yeah." Psyching himself up for the ride, he jumped onto the next swinging branch and held on for the ride. After spotting the entrance a few feet away, he let go and sailed through the opening headfirst. After tumbling a few feet, he laid still until his head stopped spinning so painfully. Still shaking his head to clear it of the cobwebs, he stood up slowly and continued on his way. Out of the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw Feynman shaking his head in frustration and stalking off. Brushing it off, he continued hiking without any additional encounters.

About a half hour later, he reached a point where he would have to cross the raging river cutting through the jagged rocks below. Seeing no obvious ways to cross, he considered flying until he remembered that it wasn't allowed. Seeing a large tree on the other side of the chasm, he reverted to his black lion form and shot a bolt of lighting to topple it over. It crumpled over and created a flimsy make shift bridge, seeing that it would not support much weight if at all, he transformed into his snake form and began to cross. Half way across, the tree began to splinter and slip off of the edge. Panicking, he reached out for his water element and created a wall of water that began to rise until the sagging tree was sturdy enough to slither across. Reaching the other side, he looked back as the water receded and the tree finally cracked unto its weight. Silently cursing whoever came up with that obstacle, he stood up and surveyed the next ridge warily.

An hour later, he had creating an inferno to dry up a quicksand trap and also escaped from an angry dragon similar to a Hungarian Horntail. He also had run into a group of armed 'teacher-bandits' and left them either hanging upside down from a tree, or lying in a smoking pile on the ground. He wasn't looking forward to meeting up with the Xander-bandit later after zapping him with a lightning bolt. Shuddering slightly at the repercussions of his actions, he finally reached the top and spotted a red flash ahead.

Curious as to what lay ahead, he crept up to a boulder and peeked around the corner to see a long, red headed figure tied to a post with a piece of paper attached to it's chest. 'I have a bad feeling about this one.' He thought as he crept up to a few feet from the figure before getting a good look at it.

The teachers were just able to either free themselves from the tree or cast cooling spells on themselves when a thundering yell reached them. "XANDER, I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS ONE!" Laughing at the worried look on Xander's face, Guran grinned and clapped his wizened hand on his shoulder. "Well, I think he found it, you might want to get a head start right about now. He does not sound impressed with your little stunt." Xander nodded grimly before apparating away quickly.

After seething a little, Harry saw a little humor in the situation. Tied to the post was a transfigured, red headed doll with a sign that had 'Ginny' written on it. He had told the others of his friends and their adventures, and somehow through all of the stories, Xander had gotten the impression that Harry was in love with the youngest Weasley. The proof for him lay in the way that Harry seemed to speak of her a little more than the others. Sighing deeply, he decided to head down to the bottom quickly, he had a long day of Xander hunting to do. Silently, his demon wings began to sprout from his back, stretched them out enthusiastically he dived off of the ledge as he glided down for his hunt.

After the discovery of his animagous forms, Harry had learned that he could merge different aspects of his forms, even when he was in his normal appearance. Vince had been badly shaken when Harry had accidentally shot lightning out of his hands during a match. After recovering from his burns, he had eagerly explored the new possibilities of this new found ability.

(A/N – Yep, using a little of book six here with that 'Felix Felicis', but hey, it is an interesting potion. Pure genius to come up with that one, thanks JKR. I was thinking of adding a few students Harry's age, but I decided that that may be too much to keep track of at this point for me. I may add some sorcerer friends his age later in the story, after all, Harry has to meet his people anyways.


	5. Emotions Running High

Chapter Five

**Emotions Running High**

Ginny was sitting alone in the Great Hall, quietly absorbed in her thoughts as she ate her breakfast. Harry's disappearance had affected everyone around her, her family and friends had silently prayed for his safe return. But as the days and the weeks passed by, hope seemed to slowly leave those closest to her like water from a leaky cauldron. But Ginny stayed hopeful for his return, scouring the Daily Prophet for possible sightings of the boy or anything which could shed some light on his disappearance. She wasn't sure what, but something inside of her had convinced her that he was still alive. Six months had now passed since the night of his disappearance and the order and ministry had lost all hope for his safe return. Even the prophet had stopped reporting alleged sightings of _The Boy Who Lived_ by batty old witches with to much spare time. But Ginny remained hopeful, spending all of her free time combing over articles from the prophet or researching strange magical phenomena in the Hogwarts library.

Ginny thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of her brother and Hermione, who had sat down opposite her for breakfast. Noticing the familiar pensive look on his sister's face, Ron decided that it was about time someone talked to her about her obsessing over Harry's death.

"Gin, you've got to stop doing this to yourself." He said softly, meeting his sister's eyes. "Ever since Harry's death you've changed, you've lost your grip on reality." He continued, "And these stories about him coming back… Ginny, he isn't coming back." He insisted. Ron never noticed the warning look Hermione shot him, or the Gryffindors who were slowly edging their chairs away from him, or the familiar signs of fury playing across Ginny's face as he continued with his brotherly speech. "Mione and I have finally started to put this behind us, we will always miss him, but we need to get over it too. You should do the same; it's not healthy to dwell on his death and stay in denial like this. We've found a counselor that may be able to hel…"

At this point his speech was cut short by a fuming Ginny, who had whipped out her wand and blown him twenty feet across the room with a particularly powerful mold growing jinx. Every eye in the Great Hall was turned to her as she stalked over to Ron's figure, which was sprawled awkwardly over the stone floor in the now silent hall.

"Harry Potter is not dead!" She said in a low voice, trying to keep her voice steady as she felt familiar tears well up in her eyes. "You and everyone else here think that I'm mad, but I _know_ that he's still alive." She said vehemently. "And don't ever speak to me like that again." She growled under her breath, before sweeping out of the silent hall, a lone tear trailing down her cheek as she left.

Seeing his opportunity, Draco sauntered over.

"Well, well, looks like you aren't the big brother you thought you were weasel." He said, his lips curling into a sneer. "I think she's still taking Scarhead's most _unfortunate_ death a little hard still." He said, smirking as he watched Ron attempt a retort whilst he battled the rapidly spreading mold. "You know it's almost a pity, it would have been nice to see the Dark Lord torture him before he killed him." He said venomously.

The effect of his words was instantaneous. Draco was hit with several hexes and jinxes at the same time that Hermione's fist connected solidly to his lower jaw. Taking the full force of the punch, Draco fell backwards on to the floor, his face braking out in hundreds of tiny boils as he landed. Hermione stood seething over the limp form with an oddly satisfied look in her eyes, the whole hall staring at her with a mixture of shock and awe.

"Phaphs phi girlphred!" Said Ron with a wide grin, despite the ever spreading mold. Although nobody could understand him, they all knew what he said.

Snape quickly got over his shock and pushed his way through the throngs of students, trying to hide the look of delight across his pale face as he walked.

"Granger attacking a student. I would have expected a know-it-all like yourself to be more aware of school rules." He said disdainfully. "Perhaps I need to remind you that the punishment for this is usually expulsion." He said derisively, eliciting a small whimper from Hermione as his lips curled into a sneer.

"Enough!" bellowed Dumbledore as he descended from the raised teacher's dais. Snape looked surprised by the interruption, but didn't back down from the situation. "That will do _Severus_. From where I was standing, Miss Granger was acting in her defense. Young Mr. Malfoy intentionally provoked her, as well as many other students here. The use of such invective is not permitted here, and I will not tolerate such behavior anymore." He said firmly. "This school is divided enough as it is, through dark times we need to unite as one." Dumbledore spoke confidently, but there was no sign of the telltale twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes as he said this. The mention of Harry seemed to have hit a nerve in the usually unruffled man. "Miss Granger, would you be so kind as to escort Mr. Weasley to the infirmary? It is getting rather difficult to see him under all of that mold. Oh, and do let Miss Weasley know that her use of that spell was flawless, and looks to be quite powerful by all appearances." He said with an amused expression.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

By noon, Harry had successfully captured his prey and hung him by his ankles in the infirmary.

"Put me down Harry, It was all in good humor!" pleaded Xander, his face wearing a worried expression.

"Not yet Xander," Harry replied, snickering. "You're going to help Sarah demonstrate how to heal a broken bone." He continued, watching his victim's face pale when recognition set in. Sarah seemed a little shocked by this revelation, but quickly recovered and set to work with a malicious grin. Although Xander was given no broken bones to demonstrate with, the particulars that Sarah discussed were more than enough to put the captive on edge.

After putting up with the 'Mad Woman' for an hour, Xander finally persuaded Harry to release him from his bindings. With his feet back on the ground and his confidence renewed, he began a full blown row with Sarah over proper protocols.

"Since when have you paid attention to protocol?" Bellowed Sarah as the argument continued to escalate. Harry had found that the two years spent with Sarah and Xander reminded him heavily of the five years spent with Ron and Hermione. They constantly bickered, they were always at some sort of disagreement, and everyone else but them seemed to know about their true feelings for each other. Deciding to do what he never could with Ron and Hermione, he interrupted them.

"Enough!" He bellowed, immediately catching their attention. "Why do you always have to torment each other? It's obvious that you only do it because you like each other and you want to spend time together." He continued. "Just sit down and work this out, before you drive us all mad." He finished in an exasperated tone. At this Point, Sarah and Xander had both turned a fierce beet red and were looking everywhere but at each other. Harry turned and headed for the door, sighing loudly as he went. Once he had exited the room, he turned around and pushed the door closed. He placed several powerful locking charms on it before shouting through the key hole to a very surprised duo, he would be back to check on them in an hour, maybe.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A slim girl with fiery red hair was walking slowly along the shore of the Great Lake. Ginny's eyes were red and puffy from recently shed tears, but currently she was deep in thought, unaware of even the Giant Squid's slimy tentacles rising from the water not ten feet away. She sank down upon a grassy knoll, tilting her head back to watch the stars as she lost herself in her thoughts.

'What am I doing? Maybe I am going crazy...' She thought to herself, sighing deeply as she traced a few of the more common constellations with her eyes. 'Why can't I face the fact that Harry really isn't coming back? Ron and Hermione have put it behind them and they were his best friends. I should be able to put this behind me too.' She reasoned, although she knew it was a lie. Ever since the Chamber of Secrets it had been different for Ginny. Sure, she cared for him deeply, but it was more than that. 'I knew when he was in trouble during the Triwizard Tournament and then when the Death Eaters attacked… I could feel it.' She mused. Since the chamber she had become subconsciously aware of Harry's condition. This feeling had seemed distant since his disappearance, but it was still there. Sitting up, her eyes darkened and jaw hardened as she stared over the glossy black lake. 'I won't give up, I know he's alive. The others can think whatever they want. He _will_ come back.' With renewed determination, Ginny stood up and purposefully strode back to the castle.

Unnoticed from below, Dumbledore pensively watched the small figure enter the castle from his office window. He gazed out over the sweeping Scottish landscape as he pondered the young woman. 'Maybe she's correct. Perhaps we were all too quick to assume the worst.' Glancing at the small pewter box on his desk, he analyzed the device that housed the monitoring charm for Harry Potter's life force. It still lay as cold and foreboding as it had the day Harry had disappeared. "Maybe we all just need to have faith; Harry Potter has overcome much before." He whispered, awaking Fawkes from his gentle slumber. "Perhaps my friend, there is still hope yet." He said as he gently stroked the area behind the bird's head.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Voldemort's face was lit in a malicious smile as he stared down upon the cowering muggle man before him. He had just wiped out an entire town with his faithful Death Eaters and the demons they had been able to summon. The ministry's aurors, who continued to be stretched intolerably thin, were only able to provide a small amount of resistance to the Dark Lord's forces. Nobody in this town had stood a chance.

Turning his attention back to the whimpering man before him, he addressed him.

"I will let you live for tonight. But in exchange I want you to give a message to your rescuers. Tell them that now that Potter is dead, I will not rest until Dumbledore is also dead or surrendered to me." He hissed, eliciting a whimper from the man as he did.

With one last glaring look at the man he turned around and made his way from the remains of the house. Addressing some of his faithful, he ordered them to gather the victims of their attack. The Demons they had summoned needed to feed. With one last look at the night's destruction, he disapparated with a small crack.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N – Well, this is chapter five, I hope you liked it. If so let me know by reviewing, otherwise I will think that you don't like it and may have to discontinue. :P Just kidding, but seriously I love the reviews, it keeps me going. I have a few ideas for bringing Harry back in the next chapter, but maybe I should wait a little bit longer for that. :)


	6. The Realm of the Veil

A/N- Alright, here is chapter six. I actually rewrote it from the way I have posted it on my other sites. Hopefully it explains a bit more, plus it is way longer this way (Nearly 4500 words!). At the bottom of this chapter I will have the other version posted, let me know which one you like more. Ok, don't own it, don't sue.

Chapter Six

**The Realm of the Veil**

The time had finally come for Harry to leave as everyone gathered to see him off. Cautiously, he began to open the portal to the prison realm as he concentrated on cracking the barriers between the realms. Once he was satisfied that there was a crack deep enough to pierce, he raised his arms in front of him and began to pry apart a crack only he could see.

Soon a pale light began to spill out from a three foot gash in the air. After a bit more effort on Harry's part, gusts of wind and sand began to blow in on the silent observers. A couple of minutes later, the portal was completed as a large three foot window seemed to float in front of Harry. The walls of the barrier were clearly defined as a six inch border within the portal, as light seemed to flow from the ruptured wall like fog. Through the barrier wall, everyone had a bird's eye view of fields of sand broken only by walls of sandstone rising from deep below. At the moment, a sandstorm seemed to be taking residence outside of the portal as if in an attempt to hold off the intruders. The scene carried with it a feeling of hopelessness as everyone stared at the desert labyrinth before them.

The prison was ingenious; an endless labyrinth lay below with the occasional oasis spotted every dozen miles when it wasn't blocked by the storm. Harry slowly turned from the sight with his jaw hanging open in shock.

"How am I supposed to find Sirius in that? He could be anywhere if he isn't dead already from the dessert heat." Harry asked quietly.

The looks on everyone's faces was no help whatsoever, everyone was just as surprised as Harry was. From what everybody had read of the prison realm, it was only a prison guarded by elemental golems. Everyone had assumed that it would be a stone fortress with perhaps a few earth golems guarding within the walls, not this.

With a sigh, Harry began to say his goodbyes to his friends. Once everyone was able to take their eyes off of the sight before them, they hugged him goodbye with the occasional threat of bodily harm if he didn't come back safe and sound to visit them. Sarah and Xander were holding each other as they both tried not to cry, while everyone else just grinned behind their backs. They had obviously talked everything out during their forced time in the infirmary, not that they were complaining now.

Once Harry had said his goodbyes, he turned to the portal and spread his leathery wings out for the dive. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he dove through the barrier headfirst. Once he was through, he was instantly buffeted by the heavy winds and flying sand. Seeing his chance, he pumped his wings as hard as he could and shot towards the bright light spilling out of the ruptured barrier. Pivoting in the air with his wings, he slowly closed the portal by grasping the edges and pulling them together again giving his worried friends a last glimpse as his face screwed up in concentration.

Once the crack was fixed, Harry began to struggle for control as he was thrown violently by the winds. After nearly half and hour of constantly being blown about by the swirling winds, he was finally able to clear the storm as he flew towards the ground nearly unconscious.

Several hours after he had reached the ground, he awoke to find himself half buried in sand leaning against one of the labyrinth walls. After taking stock of any injuries he may have sustained, he began to examine his surroundings with curiosity. All manner of dessert creatures roamed the sandy dunes as the sun's heat beat mercilessly down upon them. But, there did not seem to be any sign of human life in this part. Harry doubted seriously that there would be another living person in this inferno other than Sirius, as this realm had not been used since the times before the founders of Hogwarts. Gathering his wings, Harry shook the sand off before flying into the sky above for the nearest oasis and to start his search.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Days later, Harry had yet to find any real trace of Sirius within the sands. He had found tracks that could have been human, but the winds had altered the shape so that he could not be positive. The cold nights had been spent in a transfigured tent going over maps he had created with spells. So far he had covered nearly two hundred square miles in a little over a week, but he could still sense Sirius's presence out there, always just out of reach.

One morning, after leaving a rather large oasis, Harry was flying overhead when he spotted some activity within the sand below. Curving his wings downward, Harry swooped below for a closer look. A large sand golem had taken form and was now attacking a ragged and exhausted man. (If you have ever played the Playstation game 'Final Fantasy IX', it looks like the plants with the cage in their belly, just made of sand instead.)

'Finally!' Harry thought as he landed between the man and the golem. At the sight of the winged being appearing before him, Sirius's eyes bulged in shock.

A few minutes earlier

Sirius was tiring quickly, this golem was larger and more powerful than all the rest he had previously escaped from. As he dodged yet another wave of sand being thrown by the monster, he spotted a large black bird heading his way.

Seconds later, as he gathered his feet to avoid another attack, he felt the ground shudder as an enormous black winged figure landed between him and the golem. The golem sensing the change of opponents, threw a barrage of sand attacks with every intention of bringing down this new threat quickly.

The figure merely flicked his fingers and a blue shield appeared catching the sand. With a wave of his hand, the sand creature was blown away by gale force winds, rivaling even the sandstorm that this world hosted. Satisfied, the figure turned to Sirius with a smile.

"Having fun Sirius? I have been looking everywhere for you." Harry grinned.

Sirius's mind went blank. How could this be? He had not seen another human being for over six months, and here was his godson here to rescue him. How had Harry gotten so powerful in such a short time? Never mind that, what was he doing here in this place, and why did he look so different?

"Ha...Harry... Please tell me you didn't come after me through the veil!" Sirius gasped in horror. He would have given anything to make sure that Harry was safe, and the foolish boy had followed him through into this living hell.

"A lot has changed since you have been gone, Sirius. For you and the rest of the world only six months have passed, for me it has been over two years. I know the prophesy that had my parents going into hiding, I know my destiny now." Harry replied sadly, his smile had disappeared after seeing the look on Sirius's face. "If you are willing, we can leave this place at any time."

The chance to escape from this hellhole would have anyone willing to trade even their soul for the opportunity. But, Sirius still had enough wits about him to question such a gift. To much good luck would not come without repercussions in his experience. Glancing suspiciously at the tall winged man before him, he examined his choices before replying.

"Do you honestly expect me to drop everything and follow you? For all I know you could be another trick of the desert trying to take my life faster. If you really are my godson as you claim, then spend the time to convince me of your intentions. You are too different from the Harry I remember to immediately trust."

Harry laughed lightly at the response; he would have expected nothing more from someone who spent so much time with Mad Eye Moody while locked up in the headquarters of the Order. Nodding his head in agreement, he indicated the oasis in the distance that he had left earlier.

"Well, while you are trying to figure the new me out, why don't we head out of the heat for a while? These black wings are great for shade, but they aren't exactly keeping me cool you know."

0o0o0o0o0o0

A few days later, Sirius was convinced that this was his godson. Harry may have changed, but underneath the new layers he was still the boy that would laugh happily at a story of his parents or the Marauders famous pranks. Other than the obvious changes within his power and appearance, Harry also had grown up. He was no longer the boy that would rush off into a fight without thinking of the repercussions. Although he did put some of his newfound maturity aside momentarily once they became close enough, to Sirius it felt like he was conspiring with James once more until he would remember that it was his son.

As soon as Sirius was sure of his decision of who Harry truly was, he held no qualms of leaving the dessert pronto. Quickly banishing the transfigured tent once more, Harry opened the portal once more. At the sight of the portal being pried apart, Sirius's eyes had looked like they wanted to pop out once more as he watched the magic flow from the realm barriers. Absently Harry wondered how many more shocks Sirius would be able to handle before everything had settled down, at least to a more comfortable pace. 

Once the portal was large enough, a view of the sky over the village of Hogsmead was visible. Ignoring Harry's muttering of his portals entrances always being too high, Sirius curiously leaned through the visibly glowing mists coming from the edges. Sticking his head through the rip he was able to glimpse a better view of his surroundings, he also noticed that the portal on this side appeared as two dimensional. Reaching out with his hand, he curled his fingers around the edge only to discover the edge was paper thin as he felt along the edges.

While Sirius was busy examining the portal, Harry was fighting his conscience over whether to take the opportunity that had just presented itself. Smiling evilly, he sided with the imaginary red horned devil on his shoulder that looked remarkably like him, as he stepped forward and pushed Sirius the rest of the way out of the gateway. Hearing him scream in surprise as he fell, Harry dove after him unfurling his wings as he laughed in glee. 

Catching up to the flailing man below, Harry flew below Sirius's freefall while giving a maniacal grin that stretched from ear to ear before grabbing him and pulling up before the rushing earth. Hardly able to fly straight due to his laughing, Harry placed a wheezing Sirius on the ground as he began to roll on the ground in his hysterics. After a few minutes to catch his breath, Sirius joined the young man as he saw the humor in the situation; given a chance like that, he wasn't sure he would have been able to hold back either.

Finally Harry rolled onto his back panting heavily as he wiped a tear from his eye. Focusing on the soft chuckles near him, he smiled over at Sirius before opening his mouth to apologize.

Holding up his hand, Sirius shook his head as he smirked. "Don't feel bad, it took me a little bit to get over the surprise but I have to admit, that has got to be one of the best pranks ever pulled on me. James wouldn't have been able to top one like that. Just don't do it to me again, I'm getting too old for that kind of excitement."

Climbing to his feet, Harry clapped his hands on the older man's shoulder as he steered them towards the Hogwart's castle. As they hiked through the rough Scottish terrain, they joked back and forth as all if there wasn't a care in the world.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Reaching the Hogwarts grounds a couple of hours later, they had instantly sobered at the sight of the ancient stone citadel before them. It appeared abandoned, although they both knew that that would never happen. Even Hagrid's cabin appeared empty. Due to the time of year, there should have been pumpkins rivaling the sheer structure of the half-giants home, yet there was nothing but weeds covering the small garden.

"What's happened here? I can feel life within the castle, but it looks like no one has stepped foot out for months. Hagrid doesn't even have any pumpkins growing for the Halloween feast this year." Turning to face a sullen Sirius, Harry's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I think a lot more has been going on that I originally thought. We may have to delay our rising from the dead for a few days; I want to get a gist of what Voldemort has been up too. If things look this bad, then he must have become fully active since I've been gone."

Sirius nodded solemnly as he tore his eyes from his old school only to shutter at the sight of the glowing angry green eyes before him. "We should stick around here though, if anything happens we can be nearby to help quickly. I'll go into Hogsmead and see what I can find out as Padfoot. Why don't you get a tent started, when I get back I'll show you how to make a real wizards tent instead of that plain one you had earlier."

Harry smiled at the obvious attempt to lighten the mood, but his eyes did not lose their edge. He knew Sirius was trying to protect him by going out on his own while trying to keep Harry away from harm's way. But this time Harry didn't mind, while he was waiting for Sirius to get back he would be able to come up with a plan to spy on Voldemort to find out just what he had missed.

He knew that with the training he had received from Guran that Voldemort would not be able to break into his mind or even know that he had returned. The connection that connected the two enemies had been easy to manipulate once Harry had crossed the realms. The bond had been weakened heavily but was in no way close to being severed. Once Harry had been able to find his magic core after several months of trial and error, he had been able to mold the link to his liking. The link had been damaged to a point where it could never be as strong as it had been before when Voldemort was able to send the false images of Sirius being tortured. Now the only intrusion that was possible between Voldemort and Harry, was under the latter's control. He would be able to watch any Deatheater meetings without notice, without Voldemort knowing.

It was nearing nightfall when a shaggy black dog nosed his way into the small tent that Harry had conjured out of a twig. Spotting Harry sitting in the corner with a pensive look in his eyes, Padfoot changed back into his human form before reaching a wary hand out to rest on his godson's shoulder.

Expecting Harry to jump from the touch, he was surprised when the younger man merely sighed wearily before he spoke softly.

"I know what I have to do, so I don't want you to try to stop me. I'm going to spy on a few of Voldemort's meetings and see what I can find out. I've tweaked our little connection a bit, he won't know that I'm even there, for that matter he won't be able to sense me at all anymore. Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to go up against him right now when I don't know his potential at the moment. But this is the best way to find out what is going on without revealing ourselves yet. I know what you are thinking, but you can't stop me, this is something that I need to do."

Sirius had opened his mouth to interrupt when Harry had spoken his last words successfully guessing what he was about to say.

An uncomfortable silence followed before Sirius jumped up from the spot where he had been sitting with an excited look in his eye.

"Enough of this seriousness, how about I teach you how to fix this place up properly? I've had it with being serious all of the time, so let's have some fun for a while before the unpleasantries begin. Now the first thing that you will have to do to enlarge the interior or the space you want to work in is to..."

Losing himself in the infectious mood that his godfather was in, Harry forgot about his problems for the time being and turned his attention to creating a mansion inside the small tent they were in.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The Monday two weeks before Christmas Eve, dawned on a cloudy and dreary day for the occupants of Hogwarts only getting worse as the day dragged on. The sloping grounds were cloaked in a deep, rich fog as the heavy clouds above threatened to let loose with the much anticipated snow the students had been hoping for.

Sitting in the Great Hall eating her dinner a couple of hours after her last class, Ginny suddenly sat up and wrenched her seat back as she scrabbled to her feet sending a few carrots flying as she did. With a strange gleam in her dark chocolate eyes, she skidded out of the Great Hall in a blur of long red hair and billowing robes.

Ron looked up from his plate with his cheeks puffed out from his food as Hermione looked up from the book she was reading. Not a word was spoken as the two exchanged glances with sad, knowing eyes. Ginny's personality was becoming unpredictable, they had no idea before this summer that Harry and Ginny had such a bond between them. Hermione had explained her theory once to Ron over dinner a few weeks before. It seemed that when Harry had rescued Ginny from the Chamber of Secrets, a bond of sorts had connected the two even though both of them were unaware of it. So when Harry died over the summer, the link had been torn from her mind, no doubt causing some form of damage.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Racing to the entrance, Ginny slowed to check for any stragglers coming to dinner before unlocking the entrance doors with a complicated charm she had overheard Dumbledore use once. Slipping noiselessly between the ancient doors, she paused as she concentrated on trying to locate the presence she had felt earlier. Frowning slightly, she screwed her face up as she realized that she no longer felt it near her. Sighing heavily, Ginny turned to go back before realizing that she really didn't want to have to deal with the hidden stares and whispers tonight before walking blindly into the thick fog before her.

The night was cold and foggy with the full moon shining brightly; small snowflakes lazily spiraled in the air as Ginny slowly walked along the lake's shoreline sometime later in her long black cloak. She had grown accustomed to these quiet walks at night but the bitter cold this evening was quickly making her regret her hasty decision earlier. 

If anyone knew that she was outside at the moment or that she snuck out of her room at night they would stun her on the spot, it was incredibly dangerous to be out alone during these times. It wasn't that she was looking for trouble; it just helped to get away and think through everything going on in her life as well as the presence that she had felt earlier tonight.

Spotting a rock jutting out of the frozen embankment ahead, Ginny slowly crunched over the icy ground while pulling her cloak tighter in an attempt to warm up a little. Reaching the rock she cautiously glanced around before sitting down on the cold surface.

Unbeknownst to Ginny, she was being watched intently from the deep shadows of the surrounding woods. Harry had returned earlier from spying on a small Death Eater meeting at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade to see how things were going here. He had not expected to find someone out alone, especially not Ginny. Seeing her brought back all the feelings that he had tried ruthlessly to crush while he had been training. Xander and Sarah had been right; he had realized his feelings for Ginny were not completely brotherly some time ago.

Shaking his head vigorously to clear it, Harry made a decision he knew that he may regret later. But he couldn't leave her out here alone, especially when she looked so sad and lonely. 

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Cautiously, Harry stepped out from the trees towards the small redhead he had thought of so much during his time away. Halfway to her, he paused; Ginny had stiffened suddenly, almost as though she had felt something. The air seemed to bring with it a strange tingle the closer he came to her.

Ginny closed her eyes as she felt the night air shift around her; she knew that presence without a doubt. Straightening up slowly, she let out a shaky breathe.

"Harry." She whispered softly. She was afraid to turn, afraid that she was just imagining this feeling, but she knew that this was no dream. Gathering her courage, Ginny slowly rose from her seat and turned. Standing several feet away was a cloaked figure enshrouded in dense fog; a slight breeze had risen and was playing with the edges of the dark fabric as the tingle felt between them earlier threatened to start shooting sparks at any moment.

Harry's surprise at Ginny speaking his name before she even saw him had triggered a lapse of his control over his elements. Before anything more than a slight breeze could pick up, he squashed the escaping energy completely. While Harry was concentrating on controlling his runaway powers, Ginny had edged closer and was now able to make out this mysterious figure more clearly as she caught sight of his emerald green eyes.

Once she was positive it was not just her emotions running wild, Ginny flung herself into Harry's arms with a bear hug that would have made Mrs. Weasley proud.

"I knew you were alive, I just knew it!" Straightening up slowly from the bone-crushing embrace with tears streaming down her face, she pulled her hand back and slugged Harry in the shoulder. "Where have you been? Don't you ever do that again, you had everyone thinking that you were dead! I have half a mind to bat bogie hex you into next week!"

Harry smiled as he heard the lighthearted threat; it was such a typical Ginny response. But, his brows furrowed as he noticed her shoulders begin to shake after her rant. He watched in horror as tears began to pour down her cheeks. Suddenly panicked after remembering what had happened the last time a girl had begun to cry on him, he hugged her tightly hoping that she would calm as a wave of guilt washed over him. Ginny had always been so strong, the only time he had ever seen her cry was down in the Chamber of Secrets her first year.

Feeling her sobs begin to subside, Harry heard a small voice from his chest and had to strain to catch her words. "They all thought that I was crazy for saying that you were still alive, but I knew... I knew that you couldn't be dead. I've always known. Please don't leave us again.. I.. I don't know if I could handle going through this again." Ginny trailed off near the end of her short rant, but Harry had heard every heartfelt word.

What did she mean by everyone thinking that she was crazy? But right now was not the time to think of that. He needed to get out of the open before someone else found him or they both froze to death. Subconsciously, he knew that seeing them was not possible though, the fog was too thick to see anymore than a few feet in front of them. Someone would have to know exactly where he was to have any chance of finding him.

Stepping back with a shy smile, he held out his hand for her to take before he led her towards the forest edge and to the shelter of the newly constructed tent he had set up below a grouping of trees. To any passersby the tent would only appear as a large clump of prickly shrubs. Leading her through the entrance, she stopped in awe at the sight of the grand entrance hall beyond. Ginny had been in a few wizarding tents before when her father was able to borrow one from a friend, the one for the Quidditch cup had been the grandest. But all of those had seemed like they would be an average size home, this one was the size of a mansion.

Seeing her awed expression, he laughed lightly, not even realizing that neither had let go of each others hands. Just then Sirius appeared around a corner with a transfigured book in one hand and a half eaten sandwich in the other.

"Ah, I thought I heard you come back, Harry." Seeing Ginny standing next to him still holding Harry's hand, he grinned slyly. "Hello Ginny, knew Harry wouldn't be able to go long without seeing you, not with the way he always brings you up in conversations."

Glancing at Harry but missing the deeply blushed face and the warning look he was giving his godfather, Ginny whipped her head back towards Sirius before she was able to stutter a response back.

"Si...Sirius?! How is this possible, we all saw you die! I...I think that I need to sit down for a second, this is all too much to handle at once."

**Ok, here is the other version that I had written for when Ginny and Harry meet, let me know if you like it better.**

_Racing to the entrance, Ginny slowed to check for any stragglers to lunch before unlocking the entrance doors with a complicated charm she had overheard Dumbledore use once. Slipping between the doors, she paused as she concentrated on the presence she had felt earlier before running into the thick fog before her._

When she neared the edge of the lake, the fog thinned out slightly revealing the back of a tall dark haired man looking out over the waters of the calm lake before him. Ginny paused a few feet from the man, as a strange energy filled the damp air around them. Sensing her presence and the strange energy build up from behind him, the man looked up from the lake and slowly turned his head towards Ginny.

Ginny gasped as she looked into the deep emerald eyes of the man before her. Only one person had eyes that color of green, she wasn't going crazy after all, Harry was alive! Just to make sure that she wasn't dreaming, she pinched her arm all the same.

Harry froze when he saw Ginny standing behind him, her eyes shining with tears but with a small smile playing on the corner of her lips. How could she know that he was here, for that matter, even alive still? But yet, that pull he had felt for so long was stronger than ever when he looked into her eyes.

"Ginny." He whispered softly as he turned to face her, trying desperately to fight the impulse to reach out and pull her to him.

Hearing him whisper her name sent tingles dancing along her spine, it felt so right, so comfortable as though she was coming home after being gone for years on end. Following this feeling, she took a hesitant step forward, and then another, before she knew it, she had thrown her arms around him as she buried her face in his chest.

Wrapping his arms tightly around her tiny figure, Harry buried his face into her dark red hair as a sense of peace flowed through him. Yes, everything would turn out alright, nothing mattered right now except the small girl he held tightly in his arms. Feeling Ginny stir slightly within his grasp, he loosened his hold as she looked up into his face.

"Please don't leave me again." She whispered quietly before burying her head into him once more as her muffled voice spoke once more. "You had better have a good explanation for everything or I'll...I'll. Oh Harry, I missed you so much, everyone thought I was going crazy when I kept telling them that you were alive. But I knew... I could always feel you just out of reach."

Harry smiled as he heard the lighthearted threat; it was such a typical Ginny response. But, his brows furrowed as he thought on her last words. She was right; he felt the same with her. But what did she mean by everyone thinking that she was crazy? But right now was not the time to think of that. He needed to get out of the open before someone else found him. Subconsciously, he knew that was not possible though, the fog was too thick to see anymore than a couple of feet in front. Someone would have to know exactly where he was to have any chance of finding him.

Stepping back with a shy smile, he held out his hand for her to take before he led her towards the forest edge and to the shelter of the wizarding tent he had set up below a grouping of trees. To any passerby's the tent would only appear as a large clump of prickly shrubs. Leading her through the entrance, she stopped in awe at the sight of the grand entrance hall beyond. Ginny had been in a few wizarding tents before when her father was able to borrow one from a friend. But all of those had seemed like they would be an average size home, this one was the size of a mansion.

Seeing her awed expression, he laughed lightly before pulling her close to him as Sirius appeared around a corner.

"Ah, I thought I heard you come back, Harry." Seeing Ginny with him and with their arms around each other, he grinned slyly. "Hello Ginny, knew Harry wouldn't be able to go long without seeing you, not with the way he always brings you up in conversations."

Glancing at Harry's deeply blushed face, Ginny whipped her head back towards Sirius before she was able to stutter a response back.

"Si...Sirius! How is this possible, we all saw you die! I...I think that I need to sit down for a second, this is all too much to handle at once."


	7. Confrontations

Chapter Seven

Later that night, Ron was sitting by the fire in the common room trying to gather the courage to ask for help on his astronomy homework. He knew that he would get another lecture from Hermione for delaying on his project yet again, but she was so much easier to talk to then their professor.

As he was getting to his feet, he noticed Ginny sneaking up the stairs to her dorm. She had been missing all night and now it was three hours past curfew. He had noticed that once in a while she would sneak out of the common room at night, but he had assumed that it was just to get a late night snack. At this point, he didn't care what Hermione did to him, he was going to have to tell his mother what was going on. Maybe she could help out his troubled sister.

Forgetting his earlier plight, Ron climbed the stairs to his dorm and began to rummage through his trunk. After a few minutes of tossing old chocolate frog wrappers, bright orange Chudley Cannon memorabilia and other assorted items he finally found the section where he actually kept his school items. Pulling a sheet of parchment out he grabbed a quill and began to write.

0o0o0o0o0o0

While Ron was ready to pour his worries and suspicions out onto paper, Ginny was sitting on her bed with her curtains pulled thinking back on the events that had taken place earlier. After Ginny had followed Harry to his tent, she had received one too many surprises when she had seen another man who she never thought that she would see again. After waking up and seeing Sirius standing over her with his trademark smirk planted across his face, she had frozen in shock.

0o0oFlashback0o0o

"S-Sirius? Your are alive? How can that be? No one ever has left the veil after entering, it's an automatic death. Wait, you can't be alive, no this is my imagination. Ron and Hermione are right, I really have lost my mind. St. Mungos here I come, oh goody, I get to hang out with that idiot Lockhart, well I am probably so far gone he will seem like good company anyway. Harry is probably a figment of my imagination as well, always thought that I could feel him but I guess it was my sanity slipping the whole time."

At this point, Harry and Sirius had been staring at her dumbstruck, had everybody turned against her this badly?

"Sirius, you broke her!" Harry managed to mutter as he wrapped his arms around her and tried to comfort her. After several minutes Ginny finally stopped muttering to herself and just quietly took in her surroundings.

"Ginny, what did you mean by Ron and Hermione being right about losing your mind? Sure I can imagine that they do think that I am dead but they wouldn't turn against you like that. Well Ron might, but Hermione wouldn't."

Looking up at his face she seemed to jump in surprise. "H-Harry? Are you really here? I'm not crazy?"

"No Gin, you aren't, you are as sane as anyone else. You held onto your belief when everybody else gave up. It sound like they ridiculed you for that and I am sorry for putting you in that position in the first place." Glancing up at Sirius he continued softly. "Ginny, what you saw earlier wasn't your imagination either, Sirius is really here right next to us. The veil is a portal to another dimension over, it is the prison realm for the sorcerers. It has been a thousand years since the sorcerers and wizards coexisted, over time things like the veil became items of mystery. I think that it is time to explain a few things."

0o0oEnd Flashback0o0o

Smiling wearily, Ginny pulled her blankets up to her chin and let her mind wander as she slowly fell asleep.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The next morning when Ginny walked down to breakfast she was all smiles, seemingly ignorant of the wary and concerned glances sent her way. As she filled her plate with sausage and pancakes, an ancient gray owl flew down from the rafters before face planting in her plate.

"Oh Errol, you are such a menace! All right, all right, what do you have for me?" Ginny gave the weary owl a piece of sausage from her plate to placate him from the glare he was giving her before taking the letter from his ankle. Pushing away her feather coated breakfast she leaned back to read her letter not noticing the blood drain from her brother's face as he recognized the owl.

Halfway through the letter Ginny's face had reached a crimson color, by the end of the novel length letter her face was nearing a purple tinge on top of the fire hydrant red she had become. Dropping the letter onto the table she stood up so fast that the bench that she was sitting on knocked over spilling the other occupants onto the stone floor. Before they even had a chance to retaliate at the rude disruption, they watched spellbound as Ginny's red aura began to seep out in her towering rage.

"RONOLD BILLIUS WEASLEY!!! Come with me, we need to have a little discussion." Turning on her heels she cleared a path to the door as everybody dove out of her way. Ron on the other hand looked like he was close to wetting his pants as his friends gave him stricken looks.

The screaming that was heard from the hall that day would become legendary as one of the most terrifying fights heard in nearly five hundred years. When a witch shows her aura when she is angry it can be quite unnerving, but when the eyes begin to glow with suppressed power as well it is something nightmares are made out of.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Some time later…

The holidays had come and everyone was bustling around, buying presents, wrapping gifts, and socializing among their peers. The Weasleys and the Grangers had decided to all come to the Order's headquarters for Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, the entire order had gathered to celebrate, as well as for the dinner that Mrs. Weasley had made. Midway through the pumpkin pie, the front door was ripped off of its hinges and Death Eaters began to pour through the now ruined entry.

Dumbledore stood up from his seat and began to shoot spells and cast shields over the others as fast as he could, while the rest of the order recovered from their surprise and joined their leader. As soon as everyone was able to gain their wits, Mrs. Weasley had shoved Ron, Hermione, and Ginny into the walk in pantry before they even had a chance to protest.

The twins were not about to hide, and began to through all sorts of strange shaped cylinders from the many pockets of their florescent robes at the incoming enemy. The results were horrific as well as comical, some of the cylinders were what the twins had been trying to get the Order to use against the Death Eaters as well as their everyday pranks. As the cylinders rained down on them, the Death Eaters began to change into all types of animals ranging from penguins to bald mice. A few of the more severe experiments had results of extreme sunburn to an allergic reaction to breathing.

The Death Eaters seemed to have adopted the resolve of the suicidal kamikazes that the muggles had used during their last great war, whether it was intentional or not was impossible to tell. They were using sheer numbers to reach their goal, their fallen comrades were simply used as shields. Since the Order was not using any lethal spells, the Death Eaters had simply to reiterate their brethren to rejoin the fight, while they used the killing curse freely. The order had taken to the tactics that Dumbledore had used at the Ministry and were summoning objects in front of the lethal curses constantly.

Over the shouting and screams, a sinister voice rose. At the sound, the Death Eaters stopped and backed into the nearest wall for their master to enter, while at the same time casting shields for the avalanche of spells aimed at them.

"Ssstill think you can win, Dumbledore, you have already lossst the brat that you put ssso much faith in. Tonight it all endsss, I have tired of thessse gamesss."

Dumbledore stepped forward, allowing his full power to show as his aura rose in a powerful wave. "Tom, I gather you were able to overhear our location. Alas, I had thought that we had been secure about that." He shook his head in regret before continuing. "But we did not lose our hope when young Harry died, there will always be someone left to fight the evil in this world. Now I assume that you did not come to chat." With that, Dumbledore began to wave his wand in an intricate pattern, before releasing a spell so powerful that the Order members behind him could feel the heat and power within the curse.

Voldemort merely watched the spell fly towards him before waving his wand and bringing an inky black shield up. The spell hit, but was stopped by the shield; it merely bounced into an unlucky Death Eater who crumbled into dust instantly.

"Ah, ssso you wisssh to actually kill me thisss time, do you? Unfortunately for you, my power has grown to unparalleled heightsss; you are no longer even a challenge to me." With that, he flicked his wand and a dark red light sprang from the aged wood towards Dumbledore.

Right before the spell made contact with Dumbledore's shield, a body jumped in front of him taking the full brunt of the curse that had passed through the shield. Even though the spell had gone through a very powerful shield and a body, a diluted form still passed into Dumbledore throwing him against the stone wall behind him with enough force to leave a small crater. The body of Mundungus Fletcher lay near the crater, barely recognizable as the squat alcoholic everyone knew and loathed.

Suddenly, what was left of the entryway behind Voldemort exploded in a vast fireball. Everyone ran for cover, as shards of flaming wood and mortar rained down upon friend and foe alike.

A wall of pure flames engulfed the entire entranceway except where a small opening began to appear. The flames seemed to peel back from each other, exposing an ever widening passage. The passageway began to take on the form of an arch as a figure began to materialize within the inferno.

The figure calmly strode through the fire unharmed to reveal a red hooded man. In a deep and threatening voice, he spoke only one word, but it was enough to instill fear in the cold and blackened heart of Tom Marvilo Riddle.

"_Riddle_."

With that simple word, all hell broke loose as Voldemort slowly rose from the mass of strewn and burnt bodies where he had taken refuge. Feeling that he would be able to control his voice now, he replied in a haughty tone. "Well, well, an elemental. I haven't run into one of your kind for quite sssome time now, although I have never met one of your caliber before. Now tell me, why I ssshould wassste my time on you."

The figure chuckled darkly as he stepped out of the flickering flames. "We have always been fated to fight, ever since the day you marked me."

"Marked you? Hmm, then you are one of my Death Eatersss? If ssso, then you will not ssstand a chance againssst your massster." With that, he cast the same spell he had used on Dumbledore at the lone figure.

To the surprise of everyone, the spell hit an invisible shield around the figure and vanished without a trace. A mocking laugh filled the air as the figure hissed. "When you marked me, you marked me as your equal not as one of your idiotic puppets. Over the last fifteen years, you have killed my family and friends, hunted down anyone you thought was inferior to you. And now you attack my friends yet again, this time I am strong enough to stop you."

By now everyone was peeking around fallen furniture or under the table as the two rivals faced off. Dumbledore's unconscious body had been pulled from the crater by Ron and Hermione, as Ginny adamantly watched the events unfold with a strange smile on her face.

The figure slowly reached up and pulled back the hood of his cloak to reveal short spiky black hair. He was a tall man, standing around 6'3, he had a tanned muscular physique, broad shoulders covered in a black sleeveless tank, and loose fitting black leather pants. His emerald green eyes glowed with power and rage as he stared down at his enemy. The most striking aspects were the twin samurai swords worn in an X pattern on his back, as well as the daggers sheathed on his biceps and thighs. On closer inspection he appeared to have a moving tattoo of golden runes cascading down from his shoulders to the black gauntlets on his forearms. What caught everyone's attention was the lightning shaped scar running down his forehead. Harry Potter had seemingly returned from the dead.

Ron and Hermione's jaws dropped as they shared a glance between them before they turned to a pleased Ginny Weasley.

"I told you he was alive, didn't I?" Ginny smiled softly before turning her attention back to the confrontation before her and whispering. "Please be careful Harry."

Voldemort had turned an ugly shade of gray when he recognized the last of the Potters. Somehow the brat had survived the explosion that would have probably have incapacitated even him. And what was even worse was the fact that the boy had seemed to have gone through some major changes physically and magically, changes that should not be possible within only a six month period.

"Surprised Voldemort? I may have been gone for nearly six months in this realm, but I have been training for nearly two years within that time." Harry paused before smirking uncharacteristically. "I have been watching you lately; your power has grown quite a bit, you have even managed to surpass Dumbledore; not an easy feat. But this time it will not save you from your fate or my vengeance."

AN- Yes I know that the secret keeper has to give the location away in order for the fidelious (SP) charm to be shared. But there is one inconsistency that I have noticed in the books. Every time Harry or anybody else went to the headquarters they had to whisper the name or make sure that nobody that wasn't a part of the order heard. In my story I made it so that if someone stronger than the caster decided to break it they could. It doesn't ever say who the original caster was for James and Lily but I am assuming that it was Dumbledore. Dumbledore is known as the strongest wizard in the world he would never have to worry about something like that normally, but Voldie is no ordinary wizard anymore. All Voldie had to do was have someone overhear the location and break the charm. Harry had already been invited to headquarters earlier so there was no problem for him even before the charm was broken.


End file.
